dead goat

andrea65 · #1 01/25/09, 10:01 PM

I just lost my 3rd generation milk goat for unknown reasons. I'm wondering if anyone has any ideas, because the vet had no ideas. The day she went into labour there were no signs. No plug, no mucus, no bagging up. There was bright red blood. She pushed for awhile, I ended up helping pull. There was no water sac, the kid was born with bright red blood all over it. Mom cleaned her up well, everyone seemed okay, kid nursed. Placenta came out. That was a tuesday. Friday night she wouldn't eat, her bag started to turn blue. We gave her penicillan, calcium and something else to no avail. By saturday night she was dead, and her bag was purple. Very sad, I've had a few goats for 14 years and never had any problems.I'm kinda nervous now and wondering if it's something I did or didn't do! Any input would be appreciated.

susanne · #2 01/25/09, 10:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by andrea65

I just lost my 3rd generation milk goat for unknown reasons. I'm wondering if anyone has any ideas, because the vet had no ideas. The day she went into labour there were no signs. No plug, no mucus, no bagging up. There was bright red blood. She pushed for awhile, I ended up helping pull. There was no water sac, the kid was born with bright red blood all over it. Mom cleaned her up well, everyone seemed okay, kid nursed. Placenta came out. That was a tuesday. Friday night she wouldn't eat, her bag started to turn blue. We gave her penicillan, calcium and something else to no avail. By saturday night she was dead, and her bag was purple. Very sad, I've had a few goats for 14 years and never had any problems.I'm kinda nervous now and wondering if it's something I did or didn't do! Any input would be appreciated.

probably gangrene mastitis and she died of septicemia. sorry you lost your doe.

beccachow · #3 01/25/09, 10:07 PM

Awww, I am so sorry. No advice, just a big hug.

Minelson · #4 01/25/09, 10:13 PM

So sorry for your loss

very sad

Lizza · #5 01/25/09, 10:37 PM

I don't know what happened but very very sorry for your loss.

susanne · #6 01/27/09, 07:18 AM

oh, something is missing in this thread?

anyways, in the UCN is a very nice article about gangrene mastitis and treatment.

southerngurl · #7 01/27/09, 08:15 AM

But why was the baby covered in blood? That seems really wierd.

goatkid · #8 01/27/09, 08:27 AM

The best way for you to have found out for sure would have been for the vet to do a necropsy. In her case, I'm sure the cause would have been obvious. One guess here is that perhaps the doe broke her water before you found her. Perhaps something ruptured in her uterus and the resulting infection spread to her udder, or with her organs shutting down, the udder simply wasn't getting the blood supply it needed. What was her milk like prior to her death? With gangrene mastitis, it would have had blood and pus in it. Sorry you lost your doe.

hoofinitnorth · #9 01/27/09, 11:27 AM

Yes, MUCH missing in this thread. #5 and #6 missing post from yesterday of mine now. And Paul's response to it is missing too.

I posted this link from Saanendoah:

http://www.saanendoah.com/gmastitis.html

It talks about the suspected/possible causes as well.

hoofinitnorth · #10 01/27/09, 11:57 AM

Repost from the lost HT posts:

I too thought gangrenous mastitis but what was the significance of bright red blood in the kid's delivery (if any)?

I do know a breeder who saved a doe with gangrenous mastitis. I don't know what all it entailed but I would not be surprised if infusing the teat/udder with antibiotics immediately until you can get to the vet is probably step 1??? Someone that has dealt with this please let us know.

In the end, this breeder's doe did not have a mastectomy, but did have a collapsed udder on one side (lost one half so looked lopsided with only one side filling and giving milk) from that point on.

Added: Saanendoah says:

"This addresses "dry" gangrene, gangrene resulting from bacterial infection in the udder, not to be confused with gas ("wet") gangrene, that can result from wound contamination with soil containing spores (alpha toxin) of Clostridiums. While any of the clostridiums are capable of producing gas gangrene the most common (though uncommon in goats) is Malignant Edema caused by Clostridium septicum. Other clostridials that cause specific diseases include Clostridium tetani (tetanus), C&D perfringens. etc."

So if Covexin8 protects against gas gangrene, it may not protect against this type in the udder.

andrea65 · #11 01/28/09, 10:09 PM

The article mentions copper deficiency, which is interesting because my goat was losing all her hair, and research told me it was due to copper deficiency. I supplemented her and she stopped losing her hair. I wasn't milking her, I had dried her up 4 months previously because the milk was kinda slimy and there was a green residue in the bottom of the jar. I gave her the teat infusions which someone had recomended and left it at that.She was 4 years old and never sick, but she did have a cut last summer, so maybe the soil bacteria got in then. Thanks for the article.

Sweet Goats · #12 01/29/09, 12:32 PM

To me it sounds like what happened to a friends goat. Her Uterus ruptured and that was the blood on the baby, and she lost her doe also like that. I do not know about the bag turning purple but gangrenous mastitis I have never heard of it setting in like that and so fast.

I am so sorry for your loss.